I want to add two more speakers to be at 5.1. I currently have a Denon AVR-3803, Denon 2200, Klipsch RB5 II's, Klipsch RC-35, Klipsch RW12, Toshiba 3HF84 HDTV, and other misc. audio equipment.
My dilemna is the space available for the surrounds/sat speakers. The Klipsch RS-35 suurounds would be a good match but one on the walls that the surrounds/sat speakers would have to be mounted on is on the end of a wall (4.5 inches) that protrudes into the living room. The RS-35 are 15.75 inches wide and would stick out quite a bit. Since the Klipsch speakers are so efficient (96db), most of the sat speakers that I have been looking at are no where that efficient.
The only speakers that I have seen so far that are narrow enough and still in the same efficiency range have been the Klipsch RSX-5 or the Axiom QS4's.
Looking for input/suggestions for other speakers that would meet my needs: small (narrow), efficient, good match for Klipsch (a lot of people think Klipsch are "bright", I think the are "clean" and don't mask the sound).
My choices, your mileage may vary 1. Klipsch 2. Axiom QS4 3. Athena/Energy 4. PSB
I've heard these so I can recommend them. Very dynamic and really brings out the ambient sounds in surround movies. Works really well with DVD audio and SACD. Gives you the ol' right in the middle of the action/concert feeling!
However, if you already have the Klipsch as your mains, I highly recommend the RSX-5 to maintain an overall "balance" in your surround system. I have heard them with RF-35 and as dynamic as these mains are, pairing them with Cambridge, Boston, or the Atlantic Tech, they would probably seem muted.
I recently had the same problems when I was trying to upgrade from 5.1 to 7.1. I have sliding glass doors and lots of windows in the rear, and the perfect place for my back speakers was right in front of a pair of glass doors.
The only real solution for me was to find something that wall mountable that fit in long and narrow patch of wall above the glass doors that I could aim down to the listening area.
I ened up buying Bose-161's for the sole purpose that they were the only thing that I could find that was a perfect fit the available space. Yea, I know that's not the best way to shop speakers, but as it turned out, they were a good choice and serve their purpose well. My situation was a little different though because back speakers are much less important.
Berny, No, I have not listened to any on the list yet. Was wanting to narrow it down a little. I listen to 80% music and 20% HT. Was thinking that the RSX-5's would match well but had read that some people suggest the bipole/dipole speakers for surrounds because of their wider dispersion of sound.
Jack, RB-35 or RB-25's are too big for my situation.
daniel, i have read that dipole/bipole surrounds are good for prologic only since prologic sends a mono signal to the surrounds requiring the sound to be reflected to give a better surround effect. digital surround formats like dolby digital or dts require directional speakers due to the surrounds having their own signals. this is coming straight from fluance's website.
I think I can go along with that having recently changed from dipole to monopole surrounds. I like the monopoles much more. Of course, the change also included all of the speakers being based on the same drivers.
